Khari turns toxic as pollution breaches red lines

Ahmedabad: The Khari river in Mehsana has virtually been reduced to a toxic stream, with successive Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) reports from 2022 to 2025 confirming serious pollution caused by untreated sewage and industrial effluents.Details obtained through an RTI application back long-standing complaints from residents about foul smells, murky water and fish kills, highlighting a growing environmental and public health concern. According to the RTI reply to a query submitted by Mehsana-based advocate Kaushik Parmar, the most alarming metric is the increase in Fecal coliform, a bacteria indicating severe raw sewage contamination. In Nov 2022, levels at Nagalpur village were measured at 920 most probable number (MPN)/100 ml against the acceptable CPCB limit of 500 MPN/100 ml. By July 2025, that figure had nearly doubled at more than 1,600 MPN/100 ml at the Nagalpur-Palavasna causeway. "This suggests a chronic, unchecked discharge of untreated human waste into the waterway," said Parmar. The chemical degradation is equally severe. Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) — a measure of the inorganic salts and organic matter in the water — climbed from 1,176 milligram (mg)/l in late 2022 to a staggering 1,716mg/l by mid-2025. This far exceeds the CPCB's 500mg/l limit for drinking water sources. High TDS levels can make water corrosive and salty, rendering it useless for agriculture or consumption. "In the RTI reply, the GPCB's regional office has stated that it had transferred the complaints to the chief officer of the Mehsana municipality," Parmar said.Perhaps the most startling evidence in the GPCB report of a choked river ecosystem is the Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), which measures how much oxygen bacteria consume while breaking down organic waste. In 2022, the BOD was a relatively low 2.75mg/l, sitting just within the CPCB's 3mg/l limit for bathing water. By July 2025, it had skyrocketed to 21mg/l — a nearly six-fold increase that signals a river so starved of oxygen that most aquatic life cannot survive, as it significantly exceeds the healthy aquatic threshold. GPCB report also stated detection of oil, grease and phenolic compounds which suggests untreated industrial waste entering the river.Also, the total phosphate levels jumped from 0.21mg/l to 4.55mg/l in the same period, nearing the CPCB's maximum effluent discharge limit of 5mg/l and fuelling concerns about toxic algal blooms. "Despite repeated complaints and RTI submissions, enforcement has been lax, enabling polluting units to continue functioning," said Parmar.
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